"Home of the Australian Parliament " a Canberra Travel Page by aussiedoug

Yes indeed Canberra is the home of the Australian Federal Government: it's two houses - the House of Representatvies (or lower house) elected from electorates all over Australia & the Senate (or upper house) which is elected from within individual states & is also known as the "State's Hous" which isn't literally true as most politicians vote on the basis of the party to which they belong.

Canberra may well not exist if it were not for "Federaation" & the need to have a home for the Australian Parliament that for obvious reasons of intercity rivalry could not be permanently housed in either Melbourne (where it was initially housed) of Sydney.

Hence the arhitect Walter Burley Griffin was engaged to design our National Capital. One of the few cities in the world to be developed this way which helps give it the ordered appearance, but also results in its biggest criticism - "that it lacks soul".

You have to visit yourself over a period of a few days or over a number of occasions to determine that for yourself. For me I love to visit here, but frankly wouldn't really want to live here permanently. But, I'd certainly recommend any visitor to Australia to check out Canberra if they can fit it into their itinerary.